A generic device is already known, in which both the inspection station and the sorting station connected to it are arranged at a considerable distance upstream from the heating station, so that all the defective parisons can be sorted out before being heated (German Patent 197 37 527 A1). The inspection station has its own drive motor, which ensures—through a special recovery control—that the gaps formed due to sorting out all the defective parisons are closed again before reaching the heating station. The heating station and the blow molding station are thus filled with parisons with no gaps between them and both stations operate at maximum output and maximum efficiency. However, the structural complexity and the space required with the known device are not insignificant and it is often difficult to integrate them, which is why this design with a separate parison inspector is not suitable for all applications, despite its advantages.
On the other hand, it is already known that a mechanical inspection station with a sorting function may be integrated into the intake star wheel of the heating station (U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,375). Here again, all the parisons which are rejects are sorted out before the heating station, but the gaps that result from this sorting continue all the way through the heating station and the blow molding station. Depending on how many defective parisons must be sorted out, this has a more or less negative effect on efficiency and output. In addition, heating of the parisons in front of and following such gaps is disturbed as a result of the gaps between the parisons in the heating station, which therefore also results in defects in the completely blow-molded hollow bodies, e.g., beverage bottles.